USA > West Virginia > History and government of West Virginia > Part 16
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24
THE STATE UNDER THE PRESENT CONSTITUTION. 271
Edward B. Kenna, John G. Gittings, Dudley H. Davis and Pat Kenney. To science George W. At- kinson has contributed a volume entitled "Psychology Simplified."
27. State Uniformity in Examination of Teachers. -For a number of years the subject of State Uni- formity in the examination of teachers was discussed at teachers' institutes and educational associations ; in 1903, the Legislature passed an act requiring the State Superintendent of Free Schools to fix dates, prescribe rules and regulations for the control of county boards of examiners; prepare questions and transmit them under seal to the county superintend- ents who open these in the presence of the assembled applicants and the members of boards of examiners, who then conduct the examination in accordance with the prescribed rules and regulations and send the manuscripts, under seal, to the State Superin- tendent who causes them to be graded, issues certifi- cates based thereon and sends same to applicants.
28. An Official State Flower .- The subject of an official State Flower was long a theme for discussion among teachers and others interested in our school work, but this did not take form until 1901, when Governor Atkinson in his message to the Legislature recommended the adoption of a State Flower, and suggested the Rhododendron, or Big Laurel as being most appropriate. Then Thomas C. Miller, State Superintendent of Free Schools, became much inter- ested, and under his direction, the school children of the State, on the 26th of November, 1902, voted upon
.
1
-
272 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.
the question of selection. There were 35,854 votes cast of which 19,131 were for the laurel, 3,663, for the honeysuckle ; 3,387, for the wild rose; 3,162, for the goldenrod, and the remainder for various other flowers. Then Governor White, in his message to the Legislature in 1903, referred to the recommenda- tion of his predecessor and the action of the children, both of which he approved, and on the Sth day of January, 1903, the Legislature adopted Joint Resolu- tion No. 8, as follows:
"Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia- That the Rhododendron, or Big Laurel, be and it is hereby designated as the official State Flower to be used as such at all proper times and places."
Thus was the bloom of the mountain laurel which covers the bank of many a rapid stream and rushing torrent, made the official flower of the State.
29. The West Virginia Commission of the Lou- isiana Purchase Exposition .- West Virginia derived great good from the exhibition of her great natural resources at the Centennial Celebration at Philadel- phia in 1876; and at the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893. When, therefore, it was learned that the Louisiana Purchase Exposition-the greatest of all the world's expositions-was to be held at St. Louis in 1904, Governor White on the utth of January of the preceding year, appointed a West Virginia Commission composed of N. E. Whitaker, of Ohio county; A. H. Winchester, of Upshur county; C. E. Gerwig, of Wood county; John T. McGraw, of Taylor county; Fred Paul Grosscup, of Kanawha county ;
.
THE STATE UNDER THE PRESENT CONSTITUTION. 273
F. S. Landstreet, of Randolph county; and Eli Ensign, of Cabell county. Of the last two named, the former declined and the latter died; and the governor filled the vacancies by the appointment of Frank Cox, of Monon- galia county, and Darwin E. Abbott, of Cabell county. The Legislature appropriated fifty thousand dollars, and the Commission, recognizing the State's province in the business world, went to work earnestly to make her resources more widely known. A West Virginia Build- ing, costing twenty thousand dollars, was erected on the World's Fair Grounds; and space secured for the exhibit of the products of our mines, forests, factories, and fields. How much this will be worth to us will be seen in the future, as our resources continue to develop.
30. West Virginia at Another World's Fair .- The year 1907 was the three hundredth anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, in Virginia, the oldest perma- nent English settlement in America. A great World's Fair was planned in commemoration of this event, to be held on the shores of Hampton Roads, Virginia. Other States and Nations prepared to make exhibits, and the West Virginia Legislature appropriated $50,000 for this purpose. Governor W. M. O. Dawson appointed a James- town Exposition Commission consisting of Hon. Stephen B. Elkins, Hon. A. Brooks Fleming, Hon. William A. MacCorkle, Judge George W. Atkinson, Hon. Albert B. White, and Hon. Frederick M. Staunton. This Commis- sion organized by the election of Mr. Elkins as President, and Hon. Virgil A. Lewis, Secretary. Later Mr. Mac- Corkle and Mr. Staunton resigned, and Mr. Lewis and Hon. Newton Ogdin were appointed to fill these vacan-
274
HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.
cies. July 23, 1907, Mr. Lewis resigned as Secretary, and Dr. George Lounsbery was elected to fill this position. A "West Virginia Building" was erected on the grounds, a great coal column erected; and historical, educational and horticultural exhibits were shown. Indeed it may be said that the display made by the State at this Expo- sition was equal to that of any other State, and was highly creditable to all of our people.
31. A Terrible Mine Disaster .- The most terrible disaster in the whole history of the mining indus- try in West Virginia-indeed in that of the United States-occurred at Monongah, in Marion county, on the 6th of December, 1907. By it 362 lives were lost. Of the dependents-widows, mothers, and orphans-462 resided at Monongah, and 339 in other States and in Eu- rope. Contributions in aid of these came from many sources in West Virginia, and in other States and Nations, until the sum received amounted to $154,360. 10, all of which was judiciously expended in aid of the dependents. In this we have a dire disaster and a noble charity combined.
32. Eminent West Virginians Pass Away .- Re- cently a number of prominent citizens have passed from · among the living, among them being the following: Hon. Clark W. May, Attorney-General of the State, who died at his home in Lincoln county, April 25, 1908, as a result of injuries caused by the running away of his horse. He was a man of strong character and a learned lawyer. In the same year and month, Hon. Johnson N. Camden passed away at his home in Parkersburg. He had done much to develop the railroad interests and nat-
٢
THE STATE UNDER THE PRESENT CONSTITUTION. 274a
ural resources of the State, which he had represented in the United States Senate from 1881 to 1887, and again from 1893 to 1895. Hon. James C. McGrew died at his home at Kingwood, Preston county, September 18, 1910, near which place he was born ninety-four years and four days before. He was the last surviving member of the Virginia Convention of 1861, which adopted the Ordi- nance of Secession, and was one of the fifty-five members who voted against it. He was a member of the First Legislature of West Virginia, and as such helped to organize the new State government. He was elected to a seat in the National House of Representatives in 1868, and served through the Forty-first and Forty-second Congresses. Hon. Stephen Benton Elkins, of Randolph county, passed from among the living at his home in Washington city, January 5, 1911, in the seventieth year of his age. No other man had done more to promote the industrial and commercial interests of the State than he. In December, 1891, President Harrison appointed him to the position of Secretary of War, and at the time of his death he had most honorably represented the State in the United States Senate for sixteen consecutive years. The town of Elkins, the seat of justice of Randolph county, bears his name. Henry Gassaway Davis, who had served twelve years in the Senate of the United States, and who was a candidate for Vice President of the United States in 1904, died in Washington March 11, 1916. He was born in Baltimore, November 16, 1823, and at the time of his death, and for a number of years previous, his home was at Elkins, West Virginia. On March 12; 1916, occurred the death of William
-
274b HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.
Mercer Owens Dawson in the city of Charleston. He was born at Bloomington, Maryland, May 21, 1853, was publisher of a newspaper at Kingwood, West Virginia, for a number of years, was a member of the State Senate, eight years Secretary of State, and Gov- ernor of the State from 1905 to 1909. Judge John W. Mason, of Fairmont, died at his home April 23, 1917. He was born at Smithtown in the county of Monon- galia (then Virginia), January 13, 1842, was a soldier during the Civil War, Commissioner of Internal Reve- nue of the United States during the Harrison ad- ministration, Judge of the Circuit Court composed of the counties of Monongalia and Marion, and a member of the State Supreme Court. He was an intimate friend of James G. Blaine. Nathan Goff, Jr., born in Clarksburg, February 9, 1843; died a few hundred yards from where he was born on April 23, 1919. He won a generalship in the Civil War on the Union side, served in the State Legislature, was United States District Attorney under two different adininistrations, Secretary of the Navy for a short time during the Hayes administration, was United States Circuit Judge for more than twenty years, and six years a Senator of the United States.
33. Conclusion .- The story of West Virginia is completed. We have seen how savage tribes once dwelt within the present limits of the State, or roamed over its then wild domain. We have seen how white men came and occupied the land, and how from the first settlement in 1726-7, they were subjects of the King of England for fully fifty years, when Virginia became an independ-
-
THE STATE UNDER THE PRESENT CONSTITUTION. 274C
ent State, and they were citizens of that Commonwealth until 1863-a period of eighty-seven years-when West Virginia began her career as one of the States of the Union, and since that time we have seen her advance to the front rank of the States comprising the United States of America.
For service in the World War, the State furnished 45,648 soldiers, and the people complied to the full with every requirement as to the purchase of Liberty Bonds, subscriptions to the Red Cross and other welfare organizations
-
PART II. THE GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.
CHAPTER I.
THE RELATION OF THE STATE TO THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT.
1. The Nation .- The supreme power in the United States is vested in the General Government, with its three branches; Legislative, Executive and Judicial, and it is thus established upon the true federative principle. The authority of the General Government, however, is restricted to the powers expressly con- ferred on it by the Constitution; all other powers being reserved to the States or the people.
2. The State .-- The States, also, are sovereign with- in their own limits, over all questions not expressly assigned to the General Government. Instead of conflict of authority there is true harmony. The people elect the members of both National and State Legislatures and Executives, and both are equally employed in attending to the interests of the people confided to their care; the first to general, the second to local interests. All the members and officers of each are the servants of the sovereign people.
3. The Nation and the State .- There are many people who do not appear to understand that they are living under two different governments, having two
275
276 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.
codes of laws, enforced by two separate classes of officials. We all live under the United States Government, and on the soil of the United States, and are all bound to obey the laws of the United States, which are the supreme laws of the land, any law or ordinance of any State to the contrary not- withstanding. If a person violates any United States law he is arrested on a warrant issued by a United States Judge or Commissioner. The Commissioner is a committing Magistrate, and, upon probable cause, can hold an accused person to bail to answer to any indictment that may be found by a United States Grand Jury. Upon indictment the accused is tried by a jury in a United States Court, and, if found guilty, is sentenced to the penalty imposed by law. If the sentence is death, he is executed by the United States marshal; if it is imprisonment, he is sent to the prison of any State with which the United States has made a contract to receive and care for prisoners. For an offense committed in West Virginia against a United States law, the offender may be sent to the State prison of Kentucky, Rhode Island or Oregon, by agreement with either Commonwealth.
4. Execution of the Federal Law .- The United States Judges, Commissioners, District Attorneys and Marshals are appointed by the President, with the consent of the Senate. If resistance is made to the Marshal in the execution of any writ or warrant, he may call upon the bystanders to aid him. If resisted by combinations too powerful to be overcome without military force he reports to the Attorney-General,
RELATION OF STATE TO NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. 277
and the President, being then informed of the situa- tion, orders United States regular troops to the scene, to the extent of the entire army, if necessary. He does not ask the Governor or any other local authority whether this will be agreeable or not. They have nothing to say about it. The United States is all the time present on every foot of its territory, and is never an outsider knocking at a State's door. The President, on such occasions as we have described, is enforcing the laws of the United States within the United States. If there is an insurrection against the State of West Virginia, or any other Common- wealth, the President cannot interfere until requested by the State unless the State Government has sub- verted the republican form, or is too feeble to main- tain it. In that case the people of the State would be guaranteed a republican form of government by the United States, as promised by the Constitution.
5. West Virginia and the United States Courts. -The highest Judicial body in our country is the United States Supreme Court. The United States are divided into nine Judicial Circuits, in each of which one of the Judges of the Supreme Court presides, and for which two or more Circuit Judges are appointed. The Fourth ' Circuit comprises West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, North and South Carolina. A United States Circuit Court of Appeals, created in 1891, is held in each of the nine Judicial Circuits. For the Fourth Circuit two Circuit Judges are appointed, one of the first having been Nathan Goff of West Virginia. Then the State
-
278 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.
comprises two Judicial Districts called the Northern and Southern Districts of West Virginia. Judge John J. Jackson of the former was appointed to the District Judgeship in 1863, when the State was but one District. This continued until 1901, when the Federal business had increased to such an extent that the new Southern District was formed, and President Mckinley appointed Benjamin F. Kellar, Judge thereof. He held the first term of his court at Charleston, beginning July Ist of that year. All Judges of the United States Courts are appointed by the President, for life or during good behavior. The other officials are appointed by him to serve four years, or at his pleasure. For a violation of the revenue or postal laws, and for numerous other offenses com- mitted within the State of West Virginia, the offen- ders are brought to trial in the United States Courts.
CHAPTER II.
THE STATE GOVERNMENT.
1. What is a State ?- In our country the term State is applied to each of the several Commonwealths composing the Union, while the word Nation is used to embrace the whole people included within the jurisdic- tion of the Federal Government. It is not thousands of square miles of territory that make a State. It is not thousands of people residing in this territory that make the State. Nor is it the two combined which make it, for each one is but an element of the State; but when these people estab- lish a Government strong enough to protect them from outside wrong and disorder within, then the State arises. Then the word State means the people in their collective capacity. Thus the 24,715 square miles of territory; the people residing thereon, and the government they have formed; these three elements compose the State of West Virginia. Thus we speak of the area of the State; the population of the State, and the government of the State. Such an organization as this forms a part of the Federal Republic, and is modeled after it.
2. What is Government ?- Government is that form of rules and principles by which a State-that is the People-are governed. It is the sum of author- ities which rule the People, or, it may be defined to be the authority by which the rights and duties of
279
280 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.
citizens and public officers are prescribed and defined. When these rules of action are enforced, there is a power which rules the community, and this power is called Government. Therefore, the authority to gov- ern is vested in the whole number of office-holders upon whom devolves the legislative, executive, judi- cial, and administrative business of the State. The people elect these officers, and thus govern them- selves by deciding for the time who shall make and administer the laws.
3. What is a Constitution ?- The government of a State is provided for in its Constitution which is framed by representatives of the people, who assemble in Convention for that purpose, and it is then ratified and adopted by the people. Thus, the people make their own Constitution, and they may put anything in it they please that is not in opposition to the Fed- eral Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land. A Constitution is therefore a form of Govern- ment ordained and established by the People in their sovereign or all-powerful capacity. It is the first or highest law of a State, containing the principles upon which the government is founded, and regulating the exercise of powers, and directing to what bodies or persons these powers shall be confided, and the man- ner of their administration. Our Constitution then is the basis of our State Government and falls strictly within the definition of law. It is the law which must guide the actions of all departments and officials of the Government, until it is changed by the people; that is, by the same power that established it.
281
THE STATE GOVERNMENT.
4. What is a Law ?- There must be rules for the government of men, and these rules are called laws. Man, as soon as he begins his existence, is subject to natural laws; when he comes into social intercourse with his fellow beings, he is brought under the influ- ence of moral law, and as soon as he has learned right from wrong, he becomes a subject of the civil or State law, and of the laws of the United States as well. These laws he must obey or suffer the penalty, for a law is but a rule of action prescribed by the Supreme Power of the State-the People-commanding what is right and prohibiting what is wrong. This is the object of every law which has been enacted in West Virginia.
5. What is a Statute ?- A statute is a law estab- lished by an Act of the Legislature, expressed accord- ing to the forms necessary to give it the force of a law of the State. A general statute is one that applies to the whole people of a State, while a local statute is one which applies only to a part of the citizens of the State. Statutes are called Acts of the Legisla- ture, and if any part thereof is in opposition to the provisions of the State Constitution, it is void and of no offect. Every act of the Legislature must be pre- ceded by the clause " Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia," this being the enacting clause of all our statutes.
6. The Law-Making Power .- The Constitution vests all law-making powers in the legislature, which body consists of two branches, the Senate and House of Delagates. Each of these bodies elects its own officers, and makes rules for its own government;
282 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.
each punishes its own members for disorderly con- duct; each originates bills, and performs legislative functions, each passes, amends, or rejects bills origi- nating in the other House; each, voting separately, passes a bill over the Governor's veto, if the action have a majority in both Houses. The House of Del- egates prepares articles of impeachment, and prose- cutes the same before the Senate. The Legislature- the Senate and House of Delegates jointly-elect United States Senators; counts the vote and declares the result of elections of State officials, and holds bien- nial sessions. Regular sessions begin on the second Wednesday in January and continue but forty-five days, unless extended by a two-thirds vote of the members elected to each House. Special sessions con- vene on call of the Governor.
7. A Study of the Constitution .- The Constitu- tion of West Virginia is the most important State Document, and every citizen should read it carefully; every teacher in the State should be familiar with its provisions, all of which should be thoroughly taught to the school children of the State, who are so soon to assume the duties and responsibilities of citizenship · under it. Soon they are to be entrusted with every governmental and business interest of the State, and they should be prepared for this by a careful reading and study of the Constitution which here follows. How many, after having done so, can answer the five hundred and thirty questions which have been placed after it, that this important document may be the more readily understood ?
CONSTITUTION
OF THE
STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA Adopted in 1872,
1
AS AMENDED AND NOW IN FORCE.
ARTICLE.
1. Relations to the government of the United States.
2. The State.
3. Bill of Rights.
4 Elections and officers.
5 Division of powers.
6. Legislature.
7. Executive Department.
ARTICLE.
8. Judiciary Department.
9. County organization.
10. Taxation and Finance.
11. Corporations.
12. Education. .
13. Land titles.
14. Amendments - how may be made
ARTICLE I.
RELATIONS TO THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
I. The State of West Virginia is, and shall remain, one of the United States of America. The Consti- tution of the United States of America, and the laws and treaties made in pursuance thereof, shall be the supreme law of the land.
2. The Government of the United States is a gov- ernment of enumerated powers, and all powers not delegated to it, nor inhibited to the States, are re- served to the States, or to the people thereof. Among the powers so reserved to the States is the exclusive regulation of their own internal government and po- lice; and it is the high and solemn duty of the several
283
284 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.
departments of government, created by this Constitu- tion, to guard and protect the people of this State from all encroachments upon the rights so reserved.
3. The provisions of the Constitution of the United States, and of this State, are operative alike in a period of war as in time of peace, and any departure therefrom, or violation thereof, under the plea of necessity, or any other plea, is subversive of good government, and tends to anarchy and despotism.
4. For the election of representatives to Congress, the State shall be divided into districts, correspond- ing in number with the representatives to which it may be entitled, which districts shall be formed of contiguous counties, and be compact. Each district shall contain, as nearly as may be, an equal number of population, to be determined according to the rule prescribed in the Constitution of the United States.
ARTICLE II.
THE STATE.
I. The territory of the following counties, formerly parts of the Commonwealth of Virginia, shall consti- tute and form the State of West Virginia, viz .:
The counties of Barbour, Berkeley, Boone, Brax- ton, Brooke, Cabell, Calhoun, Clay, Doddridge, Fay- ette, Gilmer, Grant, Greenbrier, Hampshire, Hancock, Hardy, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Kanawha, Lewis, Lincoln, Logan, Marion, Marshall, Mason, McDow- ell, Mercer, Mineral, Monongalia, Monroe, Morgan, Nicholas, Ohio, Pendleton, Pleasants, Pocahontas, Preston, Putnam, Raleigh, Randolph, Ritchie,
T
CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA. 285
Roane, Summers, Taylor, Tucker, Tyler, Upshur, Wayne, Webster, Wetzel, Wirt, Wood and Wyoming. The State of West Virginia includes the bed, bank and shores of the Ohio river, and so much of the Big Sandy river as was formerly included in the Common- wealth of Virginia; and all territorial rights and property in, and jurisdiction over the same, heretofore reserved by, and vested in, the Commonwealth of Vir- ginia, are vested in and shall hereafter be exercised by the State of West Virginia. And such parts of said beds, banks and shores, as lie opposite and adjoining the several counties of this State, shall form parts of said several counties respectively.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.